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Presentation of opinions on the `bill draft on amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Industrial Safety and Health' [2003] KRNHRC 34 (14 April 2003)

The objectives of the `Industrial Safety and Health Act' are to establish
standards of industrial safety and health, clearly indicating who shall be
responsible for industrial safety and health, so that the safety and health of
workers may be maintained and improved by preventing industrial disasters and
creating a pleasant work environment. The Enforcement Decree of the Act
should be drafted for such that labor standards directly related to the health and
well being of workers should be prepared and the enforcement of such
standards should be guaranteed. With this in mind, the Commission examined
those provisions contained in the `bill draft on amendment to the Enforcement
Decree of the Act on Industrial Safety and Health' (hereinafter referred to as
bill draft on amendment) that might lead to human rights violations.

First, the bill draft on amendment restricts the scope of `workplaces subject
to public announcement,' for which the number of industrial disasters, the ratio
of disasters, and the severity of disasters are released to the pubic, to those
workplaces covered by the Presidential Decree. However, as the Labor Minister
has authority to decide whether the announcement will be made or not under
the law, it is difficult to guarantee the effectiveness of the law. Delegation of
such broad discretionary power to the Ministry of Labor is against the intents
of Article 34 of the Constitution, which stipulates that `The state endeavors to
prevent disasters and to protect citizens from harm therefrom;' Article 35 of the
Constitution, which guarantees the right to a healthy and pleasant environment
of all citizens; Article 7, concerning the guarantee of safe and healthy working
conditions; and Article 12, concerning duties of states to take safety measures,
of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

Second, Article 12 of the Enforcement Decree provides standards for safety
manager selection pursuant to Article 15 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act.
However the easing of duties of selection in the Bill Draft on Amendment is
a measure that did not take the safety and heath of workers into consideration.
As such, the measure may ultimately result in violations of human rights of
workers, which are protected under Article 34 of the Constitution, duties of
states provided by `Convention on Labor Inspection in Industrial and
Commercial Sector' of ILO, and workers human rights to be protected under
the Articles 10 and 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, and the
Article 7 of ICESER (International Covenant on Economic, social and Cultural Rights).
Third, the scope of works subject to prohibition of sub contract, and the
scope of those subcontract works subject to safety and health measures are too
narrow: the scope of works for which safety and health measures are compulsory
should be expanded to cover manufacturing, use, dismantling, removal, moving,
transportation, and storage of harmful substances so that workers can be
protected from harmful substances.

Fourth, Article 31 of the Bill Draft on Amendment deletes the provision on
indication of harmful substances including the names of such substances. Under
the Bill Draft on Amendment, the obligation of indication, which should have
been made more stringent, was replaced with duties of inspection of the
Minister of Labor, which may infringe on the rights to know about harmful
substances including the ones potentially crucial to the well being of workers.
This does not serve the intents of Article 34 of the Constitution, which reads
"The state endeavors to prevent disasters and to protect citizens from harm
therefrom," and Article 35 stating, "All citizens have the right to a healthy life."
and Article 7 and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social,
and Cultural Rights, which provide for safe working conditions and the right to
health. Given all, the duties and responsibilities of the state and the
management should be strengthened such that workers' rights to know and
rights to safety can be guaranteed more widely.

On April 14, 2003, the Commission delivered its opinion to the Ministry of
Labor requesting that provisions of the Bill Draft on Amendment concerning
selection of workplaces subject to public announcement, appointment of safety
managers, and compulsory indication of harmful substances be in compliance
with the objectives of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, and protection of
workers and duties of states required by the Constitution, and international
conventions, and that workers' rights to safety be guaranteed widely by
strengthening the duties of the government and the management. The Ministry
of Labor has not yet accepted the opinion submitted by the Commission.